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ROASTED POTATO and OLIVE FOCACCIA

I am all for avoiding excesses, but every once in a while I will throw caution to the wind and indulge. A bread studded with chunks of roasted potatoes will not make you feel light as a feather, no matter how carefully you go through the “portion control” route. We are talking a fair amount of calories here, but those are very tasty calories, therefore, worth consuming. Just don’t bake it every week! 😉

This is another recipe designed by Dan Lepard, published on The Guardian website – you can shape it as a loaf, but I opted for a thick and rustic focaccia. My electric oven handles flat breads a lot better than loaves, and it’s been a while since I made a focaccia anyway. The clock was ticking….

The potatoes are briefly roasted and incorporated with all other ingredients to make a very sticky dough. Using Dan’s minimal kneading method, the dough rises for several hours, until patted in a baking dish as a focaccia or shaped as a loaf.

Comments:Part of the charm of this bread is the inclusion of potatoes and olives in large chunks, don’t cut them in small pieces. Next time I intend to roast the potatoes just a little bit longer, to make the flavor more prominent in the bread. Some pieces of potato will tend to fall off as you knead, don’t worry, just stick them back into the dough, which, with each kneading cycle will be smoother and smoother.

Celia, the olives I used had pimentos stuffed in them – I could not find pitted green olives of any other kind. I started by carefully removing each one, but after a while I got tired, and decided that they could add a special “twist” – that’s why some of the red bits stayed in the dough… 🙂

Beautiful, Roasted Potato & Olive Focaccia Bread!
You’re making me wish to make this now…..It’s a wonderful, filling & versatile bread…..
Many thanks for sharing, it’s on the menu for tomorrow evening, hope that I can do it as good as you have, it’s truly superb! Well done! It’s good to re-visit previous posts, it provides me with fresh ideas again, thank-you!!!!!